Gabriel made a curious sound and crouched in front of me. He thumbed the mark, sending a shiver down my spine at his ice-cold touch. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, and the pad of his thumb warmed almost instantly. James’s mark throbbed under Gabriel’s ministrations, as if the venom wanted to spread but was just… stuck.
“I’ve never turned anyone before,” James said. “Maybe I did something wrong. Maybe I didn’t sink in deep enough.”
“No, you did everything right. Human DNA is exceptionally weak compared to a vampire’s venom. That’s why wearing your jewelry is so important when you’re feeding. It wouldn’t take much for him to start turning.” After thinking for a moment, Gabriel looked over his shoulder at Dani. “Would you show them your bite?”
Dani held up the empty blood pouch. “Got any more of these?”
Amused, Gabriel produced another one from his pocket. “Trust me, there’s plenty more where that came from. You’ll need it.” Just like before, he pierced the corner and handed it to her. Once she had it in hand, Dani shuffled her long sleeve up her arm, revealing a small—much smaller than mine—bite mark on her left wrist. It pulsed blue, like mine did, though weaker. “See how faint hers is? It’s likely that the vampire who turned her barely pierced her skin. That’s all it takes to turn a human. Whereas yours…” Gabriel returned his attention to my neck. “I can see the large amount of venom present.”
“So can I,” I said.
His eyes snapped to mine. “What?”
“I can see it. It’s blue, and it seems to pulse every time my heart beats.”
Gabriel peered at James, who nodded. “That’s why I called you yesterday.”
“But somebody was too busy chasing tail,” Dani teased. At Gabriel’s glare, she shrugged, grinning around her drink. “I wasn’t totally unconscious.”
I snickered, earning a glare of my own. Gabriel shook his head, then straightened to his full height. I leaned back into my seat, closer to James. Something about being the only human in a room full of vampires made me uneasy, even if Dani was practically useless for the moment.
“I’m going to take her to my place,” Gabriel said. “Lucky for you two, she’s not the first newborn I’ll have trained. Are you coming with me?”
“No,” I answered before James could. “This has been… a lot. I just want to go home.”
“Fair,” Gabriel said. “I’m going to look into why you haven’t turned yet.” Then to James, “You’ll call me if there are any changes?”
“Of course.”
Gabriel strolled back to the couch, offering Dani a hand to help her to her feet. Hesitantly, she took it and stood. She was wobbly but seemed much more stable than before. Still, Gabriel supported her with an arm around her waist. One which, to my surprise, she welcomed. As they left, Gabriel said, “Go home and get some rest—while you still can.”
Vampires. Even their goodbyes were ominous.
Chapter 6
By the timewe left the office, the rest of the bar was dark, save for the emergency light over the counter. James and I locked up, and we walked to the car.
Feeling uncharacteristically needy, I kept a hand on James the whole way home. If I wasn’t holding his, my hand rested on his thigh. He raised his body temperature, the heat seeping through the denim of his jeans and warming my palm. I was in a daze the whole way, only snapping out of it when we pulled into my driveway.
“Why don’t I run you a bath before I feed Carlos?” James asked as he unlocked the door. He glanced back at me, and the evident apprehension in his eyes made me smile. After more than a year together he wasstillscared of my dog. The front door swung open, and Carlos’s telltale screaming commenced. James leapt out of the way just in time for me to catch the furball, and when I looked up again, he was standing near the kitchen.
“It’s almost three in the morning,” I said with a glance at the clock. “You want me to have a bathnow? Why don’t we just shower off and crawl into bed?”
James opened the back door to let Carlos outside. The closer I got, the more his nerves visibly faded from his body and asI approached, he opened his arm for me. “I wantusto have a bath,” he said, his voice full of promise.
I leaned against the doorframe and crossed my arms, raking my gaze over his body. With the threat of the dog clear, James held me close. He was only a couple of inches taller than me, but he somehow found a way to tower over me. He raised his left arm and braced against the doorframe above my head. Damn it… what was all that stress about? James’s left hand curled around my hip, and I tipped my head back in search of his mouth. Our lips met, and I hummed in pleasure.
“Mm, Carlos, hurry up!” I called between kisses.
James, content to make out against the door until the dog was inside, explored my mouth with his tongue. I eagerly opened up for him, arching my back to grind my hips against his. When I heard Carlos rush into the house, I pushed off the frame, panting. “Go run the bath. I’m feeling exceptionally…dirty.”
James chuckled. “Trust me, love—this is about getting you naked and nothing more.”
My vampire whirled me around, backing me against a wall and pinning me to the surface. His erection dug into my hip, hard and ready.
“Even better.”
James took his time undressing me. At an infuriatingly slow pace, he teased beneath the hem of my shirt, shoving the fabric upward. Rough hands slid over my stomach, kicking up sparks across the sensitive skin. He pressed a tender kiss to his mark, and like it knew who I belonged to, it pulsed beneath his lips. My shirt cleared my head, and while he flirted with my belt, I undid his in record time. I popped the button on his jeans and lowered the zipper, pushing the denim away as I went.
